Great pre-construction step occurred with the Design Review Committee's approval of the $7.5 million renovation of the former Booker T. Washington Insurance Building into The Parisian. The project is slated to begin construction in November completed in early 2014, ahead of many other downtown residential projects. It will have 32 apartments and commercial space on the first floor and in the basement.

Also, the DRC approved the demolition of a building next to Cafe Dupont on 20th St north in favor of a gated entrance to a courtyard.

Rendering; source also AL.com

Other things that the Design Review Committee took under consideration:

Quote:

-Renovations to the Applebee’s in Five Points West to update the restaurant to the chain’s new look.
-Approved home renovation plans for two different homes in Avondale Park historic neighborhood.
-Approved home renovation plans for homes in the Red Mountain and Forest Park neighborhoods.
-Approved Alabama Power Co.’s plans for a modular enclosure of its substation at 1930 Powell Ave.
-Carried over plans for Dave’s Pub in Five Points South to add a new awning covering its outdoor patio. The committee is concerned the mock-up plans do not reflect how the awning will actually attach to the building or how it will actually look once in place.

The V.A. has announce the location for it's new 50,000sf clinic and 2800 car parking deck on Friday September 20, 2013 on AL.com and The Birmingham Business Journal. It will be located 5 blocks from the main VA hospital. The parking deck entrance will be on the University Blvd side and the clinic will be located on the 7th Avenue South side. Construction will began in early 2014 and finished in late 2015.

so this is across 280/red mtn expressway from st vincents, right? if i'm looking at google maps correctly, this is currently a parking lot (immediately on your right as you exit onto university blvd from the expressway heading south).

story mentions a 3-story clinic/medical office building and an EIGHT story parking deck...

*edit*

found some "renderings"... not great, but better than the parking lot it replaces. looks like the site has a pretty big slope, so the height of the building will mostly be realized from 7th ave south.

so this is across 280/red mtn expressway from st vincents, right? if i'm looking at google maps correctly, this is currently a parking lot (immediately on your right as you exit onto university blvd from the expressway heading south).

story mentions a 3-story clinic/medical office building and an EIGHT story parking deck...

*edit*

found some "renderings"... not great, but better than the parking lot it replaces. looks like the site has a pretty big slope, so the height of the building will mostly be realized from 7th ave south.

Yes TimCity2000 you are correct, this is the old Steel City Oldsmobile lot at a very busy intersection of University Blvd and 24th Street South and an interchange of sorts University Blvd (State Hwy 149) and the Red Mountain Expressway (US Hwys 31 and 280)
.

^kind of agree... that parking deck is a giant and it's the face you're presented with on university. i feel bad for the people in the housing development across the street that will have to look out to that, although the current parking lot isn't any better.

It truly is sad... they have a chance to do something really nice and instead decide to plop down a fat slab of parking. I know the government isn't directly in the business of commercial development but it seems like the GSA could have worked with UAB, St Vincents, or even a developer to take advantage of the great views of downtown (and there are some spectacular views from this lot) and make this something nice.

I understand their great need for parking nearer to the VA Hospital, but really could they not have worked with UAB to expand an existing deck? I understand that structurally some deck simply may not be able to be expanded, but it seems like there had to have been some other options.

If I'm not mistaken, there is an Executive Order that puts pressure on the GSA to exhaust downtown options before pursuing locations outside the city center; I wish that soliciting community input was also a part of that Order...

Back when I had to frequent the Kirklin Clinic for my TMJ, I always went out of my way to take the Expressway, so that I could get off at University and see that great view of downtown. I guess people could climb the future parking deck to get a good view, but still...

I really hate how frequently we have to "settle" for this kind of thing.

EDIT: Also, can anyone think of a reason why the deck is fronting University and not the clinic?

here's an aerial of the site. it may have to do with the proximity of that exit ramp from 280 onto university. that ramp already backs up in the morning... an entrance off university might add to that. also, 7th avenue has a decent amount of activity, although most of it is a couple of blocks east in the lakeview area. and, i hate to say it, but i'm guessing they didn't want their building facing out towards the housing authority units.

here's an aerial of the site. it may have to do with the proximity of that exit ramp from 280 onto university. that ramp already backs up in the morning... an entrance off university might add to that. also, 7th avenue has a decent amount of activity, although most of it is a couple of blocks east in the lakeview area. and, i hate to say it, but i'm guessing they didn't want their building facing out towards the housing authority units.

Well, maybe they'll advise the patients to use the exits that exist from the Expressway between 3rd and 4th Avenues South instead of the Expressway/University interchange.

EDIT: I almost don't even want to add this to the master list.... *bangs head fiercely against the wall*

I don't want to pile on too much, but it looks like the parking garage is going to eat that poor little VA clinic. lol If they were going to put up something that obstructive, they might as well have just put the clinic on the ground floor of the parking garage, or if they needed more space on top of it. Of, they could have found some way to "wrap" it around the garage, or at least put the clinic at a corner of the site and extended it upwards.

There were just so many other massing options they could have gone with that would have been preferable to this one. The GSA really needs to do better. I remember when they were going to put up a new regional FBI headquarters building in Detroit, and the thing was tall, but it was a superblock compound of a thing that totally didn't respect the surrounding neighborhood. Fortunately, the project faced enough opposition to be cancelled.

I know the GSA is trying to save money, and it's understandable given the political climate over the last two or three years. But, I always say, that a tight and/or small budget is no excuse for bad design. There is a happy medium between some opulent government palace and this. This agency needs a bit more vision.

the al.com article lists PageSoutherlandPage as the architect. i looked them up (http://www.pspaec.com/index.php) and i have to say i'm a little more encouraged. some nice buildings in their portfolio... granted, i didn't see any comparable VA facilities. but did see some nice GSA buildings. hopefully we don't get shortchanged.

I don't want to pile on too much, but it looks like the parking garage is going to eat that poor little VA clinic. lol If they were going to put up something that obstructive, they might as well have just put the clinic on the ground floor of the parking garage, or if they needed more space on top of it. Of, they could have found some way to "wrap" it around the garage, or at least put the clinic at a corner of the site and extended it upwards.

There were just so many other massing options they could have gone with that would have been preferable to this one. The GSA really needs to do better. I remember when they were going to put up a new regional FBI headquarters building in Detroit, and the thing was tall, but it was a superblock compound of a thing that totally didn't respect the surrounding neighborhood. Fortunately, the project faced enough opposition to be cancelled.

I know the GSA is trying to save money, and it's understandable given the political climate over the last two or three years. But, I always say, that a tight and/or small budget is no excuse for bad design. There is a happy medium between some opulent government palace and this. This agency needs a bit more vision.

I agree LMich... they definitely had an opportunity to mitigate the amount of "exposed concrete." Considering how much of an improvement downtown as a whole is seeing now, its a shame that this is going to be constructed in such a manner.

Currently, the VA has been essentially swallowed by UAB and struggles with parking and visibility. They have solved both issues by placing the deck on University. Notice how they placed the letters at the top of the deck facing 280. Those things are going to be slapping you in the face as you exit 280 or come under the bridge from Lakeview/St. Vincent's. It was intentional and I'm bet the CEO will not budge.

(in the last photo, you can see the booker t washington building that will be converted into apartments just across the street. love that all this development is pushing west.... also, note that i'm taking the pic from beneath the alabama theatre canopy. this truly is developing into a theatre district.)